Hardware & Devices

Reading CPU Fan Speed from the BIOS

19-Oct-09 5:44

Yes, that is what I expected: they design and build PCs that are "universal" and could work mostly everywhere by solving the cord/plug issue; and then have a few variants to best fit the local market.

Smile | :)

Luc Pattyn

I only read code that is properly indented, and rendered in a non-proportional font; hint: use PRE tags in forum messages

Local announcement (Antwerp region): Lange Wapper? 59.24% waren verstandig genoeg om NEEN te stemmen; bye bye viaduct.

BIJU Manjeri12-Oct-09 23:56

BIJU Manjeri

12-Oct-09 23:56

Hi,
I'm in a very difficult situation. Frown | :(

I want to read the CPU Fan speed from the machine running Windows OS.
WMI provides Win32_Fan class for doing this. But as far as i know, its is not implemented by Microsoft.
(i think so !!)
googling doesn't help me much.

But i saw the CPU Fan speed value on the BIOS > Hardware Monitor > CPU Fan speed/System Fan Speed. Its a read only value.
So, i think it is possible to read that value from BIOS. But i don't know how.

Please help me

Thanks is advance
BIJU

Richard MacCutchan13-Oct-09 0:46

13-Oct-09 0:46

BIJU Manjeri wrote:
googling doesn't help me much.

Did you try this[^]?

Luc Pattyn13-Oct-09 3:36

13-Oct-09 3:36

Hi,

The available hardware information is limited to what the vendors provide. WMI gives a framework to access what is available.

Here is what one of my systems returns for Win32_fan, there is no speed info:

1: ActiveCooling = "True"
1: Availability = "3"
1: Caption = "Cooling Device"
1: CreationClassName = "Win32_Fan"
1: Description = "Cooling Device"
1: DeviceID = "root\cimv2 0"
1: Name = "Cooling Device"
1: Status = "OK"
1: StatusInfo = "2"
1: SystemCreationClassName = "Win32_ComputerSystem"
1: SystemName = "LP1720"

Luc Pattyn

I only read code that is properly indented, and rendered in a non-proportional font; hint: use PRE tags in forum messages

Local announcement (Antwerp region): Lange Wapper? Neen!

Dave Kreskowiak13-Oct-09 4:46

Dave Kreskowiak

13-Oct-09 4:46

It IS implemented by Microsoft. That's why you even have the class in the first place. The problem is that the Fan class does not provide the speed information. You would have known this if you read the documentation on the Win32_Fan class.

There is no Microsoft-supplied class that returns CPU speed. This would be provided by the manufacturer of the motherboard, IF AT ALL! You'd look in a different namespace with the WMI class for one of these, not in root\CIMV2.

For example, on my HP desktop machine, the namespace to find the HP supplied class for fan speed is in root\HP\InstrumentedBIOS. The full class path is HP_BIOSSensor\HP_BIOSNumericSensor\HPBIOS_BIOSNumericSensor. The machine I'm on supplies 4 instances of the HPBIOS_BIOSNumericSensor class. The first instance returns the CPU fan speed, the second is the chassis fan speed, the third is the CPU temp, and the forth is chassis ambient temp. These values are not returned at normal temperature and speed values, but values on a mapped scale. Since there is no documentation on these scales (that I can find right now), I'd have to do some research into what those values scale to and what they really mean.

Not all motherboard manufacturers supply this kind of information through WMI. In fact, most do not.

Oh! Where did I get this information?? It wasn't with Google or some mystical oracle. I used this little tool[^]. It's a MUST HAVE for doing WMI work.

A guide to posting questions on CodeProject[^]

Dave Kreskowiak
Microsoft MVP
Visual Developer - Visual Basic
2006, 2007, 2008
But no longer in 2009...

BIJU Manjeri13-Oct-09 17:57

BIJU Manjeri

13-Oct-09 17:57

Thank you Dave..
Thanks for your reply..

Did I kill my wireless router?

Dan Neely13-Oct-09 5:52

Dan Neely

13-Oct-09 5:52

Adding to what Dave's said, fan speed, temperature, and voltage monitoring locations, etc vary widely between mobo models when they're supported at all. As a result hardware monitoring tools that report these things either issue new versions at a breakneck pace to support new hardware or provide an online DB of some sort that their app can query to get the parameters.

It would be nice if MS would define standard location/format/etc data for those parameters for a future revision of WMI; but since Weven is RTM; in the best case we'd need to wait until SP1; probably until Weight. Then add the amount of time it takes the mobo vendors to update the necessary drivers.

The latest nation. Procrastination.

puromtec112-Oct-09 16:51

puromtec1

12-Oct-09 16:51

So, my home linksys router does not show up on laptop's list of wireless networks anymore. I can connect using ethernet cable, still.

Just this afternoon it was fine. Then it looks like it quit right after an episode where the power plug became loose from the surge protector. Struggling to reach the power cables on the surge protector, I fiddled with the plug to get it to make a good "seating" in the outlet. I noticed the wireless router powering on then off, repeatedly, as I was fighting to get it in the outlet. So, in quick succession, the router was powered on and off about 5 or 6 times, maybe.

Next thing i know it, my wireless cannot be found. I can see my neighbors still.

Can anyone tell me if it likely got toasted?

Richard MacCutchan12-Oct-09 22:47

12-Oct-09 22:47

puromtec1 wrote:
I can connect using ethernet cable, still.

Since you can connect to the router you should be able to login and check the status of all components. Do you get anything in the event logs?

puromtec113-Oct-09 17:38

puromtec1

13-Oct-09 17:38

Unbelievable. For some reason, by flipping the power so many times, the whole thing reset to factory defaults. Therefore, the router showed up as 'linksys' with no security and then looked like some neighbor without a clue, but that was me who was without one.

Thanks.

Richard MacCutchan14-Oct-09 2:24

14-Oct-09 2:24

puromtec1 wrote:
some neighbor without a clue, but that was me who was without one.

We've all been there, many times Mad | :mad:

Luc Pattyn13-Oct-09 4:31

13-Oct-09 4:31

Does it have an external power adapter? if so, the adapter or the router (or less likely both) may be fried.

Smile | :)

Luc Pattyn

I only read code that is properly indented, and rendered in a non-proportional font; hint: use PRE tags in forum messages

Local announcement (Antwerp region): Lange Wapper? Neen!

Need help to finish script for sorting and renaming Local Area Connections

puromtec113-Oct-09 17:55

puromtec1

13-Oct-09 17:55

Turns out it's fine. Repeat power down/up for some reason made it return to factory defaults.

lunjaa7-Oct-09 4:49

lunjaa

7-Oct-09 4:49

We are using script to fix issue with network interface numbering sequence. Issue has been described in Microsoft KB823206. So far we have partial solution as indicated on this webpage:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/bugs/BugInKB823206.aspx

Script is perfect for most network cards, but some of our HP servers have dual Broadcom based multifunction cards (NC371i) onboard and those are detected differently (no info for Bus, Device, Function in the registry as other NIC's), see attached export from Registry. They are always assigned wrong order: Onboard1 is always "Local Area Connection 2" and Onboard2 is always "Local Area Connection".

Is there a way to expand the existing script to include check for adapters with Bus0, Device0 and Function0 and for those two it will assign connection name based on the MAC address?

Ex.: Smaller of the two MAC addresses is onboard1 - "Local Area Connection"

Or if there is any other idea how to do it?

This is output from the code created by TeeBee303:

Bus 0, Device 0, Function 0
    Pdo Name=\Device\00000062
    Slot Number=N/A
    Connection GUID={2C6BF2C7-FBE0-4F65-A153-41B224D92A0A}
    MAC Address=00:22:64:F7:CB:5C
    Description=HP NC373i Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter
    Pnp Id=B06BDRV\L2ND&amp;PCI_164C14E4&amp;SUBSYS_7038103C&amp;REV_12\6&amp;154EFE07&amp;0&amp;20050500
    Local area connection names:
        ConnectionName=Local Area Connection
        New ConnectionName=Local Area Connection
        Rename: No action required.



Bus 0, Device 0, Function 0
    Pdo Name=\Device\00000061
    Slot Number=N/A
    Connection GUID={F3B76159-B494-4BF4-B347-EABBCD7F9D58}
    MAC Address=00:22:64:F7:CB:6C
    Description=HP NC373i Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter #2
    Pnp Id=B06BDRV\L2ND&amp;PCI_164C14E4&amp;SUBSYS_7038103C&amp;REV_12\6&amp;183F41DD&amp;0&amp;20050300
    Local area connection names:
        ConnectionName=Local Area Connection 2
        New ConnectionName=Local Area Connection 2
        Rename: No action required.



Bus 32, Device 0, Function 0
    Pdo Name=\Device\NTPNP_PCI0051
    Slot Number=7
    Connection GUID={BA9A5933-BCBA-44C7-8D43-0B8A9E2786E1}
    MAC Address=00:15:17:91:83:EC
    Description=Intel(R) PRO/1000 PT Quad Port Server Adapter #3
    Pnp Id=PCI\VEN_8086&amp;DEV_10A4&amp;SUBSYS_10A48086&amp;REV_06\6&amp;36493DC&amp;0&amp;00000030
    Local area connection names:
        ConnectionName=Local Area Connection 5
        New ConnectionName=Local Area Connection 3
        Rename: Required!!!



Bus 32, Device 0, Function 1
    Pdo Name=\Device\NTPNP_PCI0052
    Slot Number=7
    Connection GUID={532BECE5-F698-4A38-9C40-2BDBA38C5344}
    MAC Address=00:15:17:91:83:ED
    Description=Intel(R) PRO/1000 PT Quad Port Server Adapter #4
    Pnp Id=PCI\VEN_8086&amp;DEV_10A4&amp;SUBSYS_10A48086&amp;REV_06\6&amp;36493DC&amp;0&amp;01000030
    Local area connection names:
        ConnectionName=Local Area Connection 6
        New ConnectionName=Local Area Connection 4
        Rename: Required!!!



Bus 33, Device 0, Function 0
    Pdo Name=\Device\NTPNP_PCI0049
    Slot Number=7
    Connection GUID={C0893663-7558-4A23-A3FA-522EF7AD08F3}
    MAC Address=00:15:17:91:83:EE
    Description=Intel(R) PRO/1000 PT Quad Port Server Adapter
    Pnp Id=PCI\VEN_8086&amp;DEV_10A4&amp;SUBSYS_10A48086&amp;REV_06\6&amp;23168775&amp;0&amp;00080030
    Local area connection names:
        ConnectionName=Local Area Connection 3
        New ConnectionName=Local Area Connection 5
        Rename: Required!!!



Bus 33, Device 0, Function 1
    Pdo Name=\Device\NTPNP_PCI0050
    Slot Number=7
    Connection GUID={5F6B643F-1F9F-4B04-8EB9-A75839D6EADE}
    MAC Address=00:15:17:91:83:EF
    Description=Intel(R) PRO/1000 PT Quad Port Server Adapter #2
    Pnp Id=PCI\VEN_8086&amp;DEV_10A4&amp;SUBSYS_10A48086&amp;REV_06\6&amp;23168775&amp;0&amp;01080030
    Local area connection names:
        ConnectionName=Local Area Connection 4
        New ConnectionName=Local Area Connection 6
        Rename: Required!!!

This is export from registry for HP (Broadcom) card:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002bE10318}\0012]
"Characteristics"=dword:00000084
"BusType"="5"
"ComponentId"="b06bdrv\\l2nd&amp;pci_164c14e4&amp;subsys_7038103c"
"*SpeedDuplex"="0"
"enable_8021p"="0"
"enable_lso"="1"
"enable_rss"="1"
"flow_ctrl_cap"="2147483648"
"ofld_cap"="63"
"wire_speed"="1"
"InfPath"="oem14.inf"
"InfSection"="NC373i_x86ws3"
"ProviderName"="Hewlett-Packard Company"
"DriverDateData"=hex:00,80,ce,5c,db,80,c9,01
"DriverDate"="1-28-2009"
"DriverVersion"="4.8.5.0"
"MatchingDeviceId"="b06bdrv\\l2nd&amp;pci_164c14e4&amp;subsys_7038103c"
"DriverDesc"="HP NC373i Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter"
"NetCfgInstanceId"="{F3B76159-B494-4BF4-B347-EABBCD7F9D58}"

Re: Need help to finish script for sorting and renaming Local Area Connections

lunjaa11-Jan-10 10:07

lunjaa

11-Jan-10 10:07

Anybody has any sugestions?

Read Data from multiple RS232 Ports

AB_dev7-Oct-09 3:22

AB_dev

7-Oct-09 3:22

Hi,
I need to read data from multiple RS232 ports.
I use the System.IO.Ports.SerialPort Class from the .NET Framework (VB). Everything works fine with just one COM device. If I use more than one device on different RS232 Ports i get problems with receiving data using the DataReceived-Event from the SerialPort Class.
I tried starting different threads to send and receive the bytes but the DataReceived-Event also starts a seperate thread and so i get problems on how to handle the incoming data to send them back to the waiting thread which check the incoming data on errors??!

Has anybody an idea how to solve this (maybe without the DataReceived-Event)??

Thanks Alex

Re: Read Data from multiple RS232 Ports

Luc Pattyn13-Oct-09 3:32

13-Oct-09 3:32

AFAIK DataReceived fires on a separate thread (probably one from the ThreadPool), and a different one for different serial ports. You are not allowed to touch any GUI Control from there, see this article[^].

Getting data in correctly from a serial port isn't straightforward:
- with DataReceived you are never sure when it will fire, and how much data will be available; assuming the incoming data is message oriented, messages may be cut into pieces, or multiple messages may appear in one chunck of data received.
- without DataReceived, you either have no events at all, or you need to perform a periodic read, based on some timer. Then CPU cycles are wasted when the port is idle, and messages have to be reassembled in code.
The right approach depends on the kind of data (text vs binary), the maximum message length, the required maximum latency time, and much more.

You need a rock-solid solution for one port, fitting your exact needs; then duplicate that for all the other ports.

Smile | :)

Luc Pattyn

I only read code that is properly indented, and rendered in a non-proportional font; hint: use PRE tags in forum messages

Local announcement (Antwerp region): Lange Wapper? Neen!

Read data from usb

hande545-Oct-09 8:06

hande54

5-Oct-09 8:06

Hi!

I need to read data from usb. for this purpose I have downloaded snoopPRo for packet sniffing . I got a log file but this file does not tell me anything. there are several functions such as GET_DESCRIPTOR_FROM_DEVICE , CONTROL_TRANSFER , SELECT_CONFIGURATION, BULK_OR_INTERRUPT_TRANSFER, CLASS_INTERFACE... could you help me how can I benefit from this log file?

Re: Read data from usb

Richard MacCutchan5-Oct-09 10:58

5-Oct-09 10:58

hande54 wrote:
how can I benefit from this log file?
Quote Selected Text

It depends on what problem you are trying to solve. Packet sniffers sometimes have filter options to allow you to reduce the amount of low level protocol information and highlight the actual data that you are interested in. The documentation often has information that may help.

Re: Read data from usb

hande545-Oct-09 11:32

hande54

5-Oct-09 11:32

I would like to get data measurement results from the blood pressure meter which has a usb gateway. It has software to list values in txt format. but what I need to do is read data directly from the usb.

Re: Read data from usb

Richard MacCutchan5-Oct-09 11:35